How to Qualify Potential Buyers or Representatives when You Export Your Products

When you sell the products of your small business in the U.S., you probably know your customers and have established a relationship with them, perhaps over a long period of time. But when you decide to export, how can you qualify potential buyers or representatives overseas? You may have contacts in other countries with whom you trust in order to do business, or you may have made one or more trips abroad to get to know future customers or representatives personally. It is also possible that an advisor or business associate can offer advice or make recommendations, and maybe introduce you to the appropriate people in your target country.

When you have done marketing in order to export and have an interested customer or representative, or have even received an order, you may need to qualify the customer or representative before you enter into a sales agreement. The level of investigation and verification you need to do regarding a potential customer or representative will depend on the selling and payment terms. For small orders with cash terms, and payment by credit card or electronic bank transfer, you can ensure that you have received payment before shipping the order.

For larger shipments, when you are offering credit terms, or when you are establishing a long-term relationship with a representative or distributor in another country, you should obtain sufficient information to ensure that you will receive payment in the agreed-upon terms. If you are considering different representatives or distributors, you should obtain enough information in order to be able to evaluate them on a comparative basis and thereby make an informed decision.

An export sale is no different than a sale within the country in terms of qualifying the customer. You need background information on the customer company itself, commercial references, credit reports, and recommendations. In the case of exports, there are federal government programs that can help you.

For a Potential Customer